Refrigerator drip tray and support



July 16, 1957 R. A. JANSEN 2,799,145

REFRIGERATOR DRIP TRAY AND SUPPORT Filed Dec. 15, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR.

ROBERT A. JANSEN.

ATTORNEYS,

July 16, 1957 R. A. JANSEN 2,799,145

REFRIGERATOR DRIP TRAY AND SUPPORT Filed Dec. 15, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ROBERT A. JANSIEN.

ATTORNEYS.

y 1957 R. A. JANSEN 2,799,145

REFRIGERATOR DRIP TRAY AND SUPPORT Filed Dec. 15, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. ROBERT A. JANSEN. 4441M JQQIM ATTORNEYS REFRIGERATOR DRIP TRAY AND SUPPORT Robert A. Jansen, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Avco -Manufacturing Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2 corpo ration of Delaware Application December 15, 1954, Serial No. 475,461 5 Claims. (c1. 62-103 The present invention concerns a domestic refrigerator and relates more specifically to a new and improved drip tray for collecting defrost water and condensation from the primary evaporator of a refrigerator. The invention also comprehends an improved mounting structure for supporting the drip tray closely adjacent the evaporator.

As is well-known in the art, cold surfaces at below freezing temperatures within a refrigerator or home freezer tend to accumulate frost through the deposition of moisture from the air which enters the refrigerator cabinet during the time that its access door is open. This frost accumulation is highly objectionable since it retards heat transfer from the interior of the refrigerator to the cold surfaces on which the frost forms.

To eliminate the layer of frost, operation of the system supplying refrigerant to the evaporator may be terminated temporarily, permitting the evaporator temperature to rise and the frost to melt. Another common approach involves the application of heat, as by electrical heaters, to the evaporator. Regardless of the method used, the frost is melted and water drains from the-surfaces of the evaporator and must be collected in a receptacle positioned therebeneath.

The present invention concerns an improved form of drip tray for collecting the defrost water. Briefly, a shallow partitioned tray is provided. The partitions are interrupted at intervals to permit flow of defrost water across the entire extent of the tray. The partitions do, however, impede sudden movement of the defrost water in the tray, as when it is carried to a sink to be dumped. The tray also includes an integrally formed finger grip which facilitates its installation and removal from the refrigerator in which it is used. The grip is such that it does not project beyond the principal walls of the tray. The tray also includes a shallow unpartitioned portion which is positioned immediately beneath the evaporator door to collect any condensation that may drip from it. The dimensions of this portion of the tray are such that opening and closing movements of the door are not impeded.

An important aspect of the invention is the provision of novel supports for holding the drip tray during use closely adjacent the bottom of the evaporator and partially behind the evaporator door. In this way, the internal volume of the refrigerator is conserved and the tray is rendered almost invisible. The tray supports are so designed that movement withdrawing the tray from the refrigerator automatically drops it vertically to clear the bottom edge of the evaporator door. The tray remains horizontal at all times during its movement.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the drip tray is positioned immediately above a food storage drawer which may be used to store meats. Besides collecting drip water, the tray also constitutes a bafile restricting flow of cold air from the evaporator down into the meat drawer and other portions of the refrigerator. In this way, the prevailing temperature within the meat drawer it kept above freezing and condensation of moisture on nit-ed States Patent the bottom surfaces of the drawer, and consequently dripping of water down into the refrigerator, are eliminated.

The drip tray is designed to be releasably engaged with projections provided on its supporting members. When engaged with these projections, the tray is held in position closely beneath the evaporator. While the tray is so positioned, the meat drawer may be moved freely in and out of the refrigerator.

In view of the foregoing, it will be understood that a principal object of the invention is the provision of an improved drip tray and a supporting means therefor for use in a domestic refrigerator.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a drip tray having partitions for minimizing the likelihood of spillage when the tray, filled with defrost water, is removed from the refrigerator.

A further object of the invention is the provision of improved support for the drip tray whereby it may be held closely adjacent an evaporator and behind an evaporator door. The support is such that the tray may be easily and quickly dropped below the bottom of the evaporator door as the tray is removed from the refrigerator.

A still further object is the provision of a drip tray which also serves as a baffle limiting movement of cold air from the evaporator.

An advantage of the invention is the provision of a drip tray having adequate capacity but a very limited vertical extent whereby the useful volume of a refrigerator is conserved. An integral finger grip is provided within the small vertical dimension of the tray.

It is also an advantage of the invention that a drip tray is provided which may be positioned immediately above a food storage drawer and partially behind an adjacent evaporator door so as to be substantially invisible to the user of the refrigerator.

The novel features that I consider characteristic of my invention are set forth in the appended claims; the invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper portion of a refrigerator cabinet showing an evaporator door and a meat storage drawer positioned therebeneath;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on plane 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing a drip tray and storage drawer support secured to one wall of the refrigerator cabinet. The edge portions of the drip tray and drawer are shown in cross section;

Fig. 3 is a view comparable to Fig. 2 but showing the drip tray partially removed and lowered in vertical elevation compared to Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the improved drip tray;

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the drip tray;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of the tray taken on plane 6--6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of the tray; and

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view of the tray and drawer support as viewed on plane 88 of Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 there is shown a refrigerator cabinet, generally designated 1, having a primary evaporator 2 and an evaporator door 3 provided in its upper portion. Since the construction of the refrigerator itself is of no particular consequence to the invention, the drawings disclose the cabinet diagrammatically, and the cabinet construction will not be explained in detail.

The evaporator door 3 is hinged for movement about a horizontal axis diagrammatically indicated at 4 to permit access to food and ice cubes stored within the evaporator 2.

Secured to the side walls of the cabinet immediately below the evaporator are supports on which are mounted the improved drip tray 6 and a food storage drawer 7.

As has been explained, the evaporator tends to accumulate frost which is periodically melted. Water draining from the evaporator as a result of the defrost operation drips directly into tray 6 and the tray may be periodically removed from the refrigerator to facilitate disposal of the water. The tray may be provided with sufficient capacity to hold the water from several defrosting operations, thereby simplifying the job of water disposal for the user of the refrigerator. The tray may be removed, if desired, from the refrigerator while the defrost water is still in liquid form. On the other hand, the water may be permitted to freeze and the tray may be removed thereafter to dispose of the frozen defrost products.

Attention should now be directed to Figs. 4 through 7 which disclose the structural details of the tray. As shown in these figures, the tray comprises upright end walls 8, an upright rear wall 9, and an upright forward wall 10, all having the same vertical height above an integral planar bottom wall 10a. This height is kept to a minimum to conserve space within the refrigerator.

In front of wall 10 is another smaller upright wall 11 defining with wall 10 a shallow auxiliary tray 12 which is positioned immediately beneath evaporator door 3 when the drip tray is positioned within the refrigerator. See Fig. 2.

A plurality of upright partitions 13 are formed integrally with the drip tray in a rectangular pattern. The partitions are discontinuous defining flow channels at their meeting points within the interior of the tray, as shown at 14. These flow channels permit movement of the water across the entire tray so that its maximum storage capacity may be utilized. On the other hand, the flow channels are sufficiently restricted so that free movement of water between one rectangular portion of the tray, defined by the partitions, and another is imeded. In this way, the drip tray, though shallow, may be handled with ease and without spillage since movement of water within the tray is confined to localized areas defined by the partitions.

Preferably, although not necessarily, the drip tray is molded in one piece from a plastic, such as polystyrene. A tray so formed has sufficient rigidity for domestic refrigerator use but has suflicient flexibility to permit removal of ice that will form in the tray should the defrost water not be removed immediately after the defrosting operation. It is merely necessary to flex the tray lightly to break the ice loose.

The novel support for the tray within the refrigerator will now be considered. Attention should first be directed to Figs. 2 and 3 which show molded plastic support 5 having integral parallel supporting rails 15 and 16. The rails of each support at each side of the refrigerator cabinet are positioned at corresponding levels so that the drip tray, supported on rails 15, and the meat storage drawer, supported on rails 16, are horizontally positioned.

Focussing attention on the rail 15, it will be noted that it includes at its front end 17 an integral vertical projection 18 designed for engagement with a notch 19 molded in the lower forward portion of the drip tray. The drip tray is fully inserted in the refrigerator until the notch 19 comes in releasably locked engagement with projection 18. In this way, the drip tray is held stationary independent of movements of the storage drawer.

From a study of Fig. 2, it will be noted that the top extremities of the drip tray lie behind and above the lower edge of the evaporator door 3. The drip tray is supported closely adjacent the evaporator and space is conserved within the refrigerator. It will also be apparent that removal of the drip tray cannot be effected by simple forward movement out of the refrigerator, for it would hit the lower end of the evaporator door.

To avoid such interference and still conserve space, the supports 5 and drip tray 6 are formed in such a way that the tray is raised gradually in elevation as it is inserted into the refrigerator. For this purpose, a ramp 2% is formed at the rear of each rail 15 and a similarly proportioned ramp 21 is formed in each side flange 22 of the drip tray. See Figs. 3 and 7.

As the drip tray is first inserted in the refrigerator, flanges 22 slide along rails 15 until a position, such as shown in Fig. 3, is attained. Further movement of the tray brings the rear ends of flanges 22 into engagement with ramps 26 and simultaneously brings ramps 21 into engagement with the forward part of projection 18. Continued rearward movement of the tray cams it vertically upward until it rises to the position shown in Fig. 2. At such time, notch 19 falls into engagement with projection 18, and the tray is held in its raised position closely adjacent the evaporator.

Removal of the tray is simply effected by raising its forward edge to disengage the notch from the projection. As the tray is moved out of the refrigerator, it first drops to the lowered position of Fig. 3 in which it may be readily removed and will not interfere with the evaporator door. After removal from the refrigerator, the tray may be carried to a sink where the defrost water collected in the tray may be poured out of the tray. During such handling of the tray, the partitions 13 are instrumental in preventing slopping and spillage of the water. These partitions make it possible to use such a shallow tray for collecting and handling defrost water without imposing serious handling difiiculties.

Attention is called to the presence of finger grip 23 molded integrally with the bottom wall 10a of the tray. The finger grip does not project beyond the bottom wall and does not interfere with movement of the storage drawer.

The storage drawer includes an upright front wall 24 which overlaps the front wall 11 of the tray so that, for practical purposes, it is not visible to the user of the refrigerator. The construction of forward wall 24 can be understood from a cross sectional view shown in Fig. 2. It will be noted that the front wall comes into hearing engagement with ends 17 of supports 5 when the drawer is inserted fully into the refrigerator. Thus, the front ends of the supports act as stop members limiting rearward movement of the drawer.

Forward movement of the drawer is limited by stops 25 molded integrally with flanges 26 at the sides of the drawer. Stops 25 are brought into bearing engagement with similarly proportioned stops 27 molded integrally with supports 5.

Since the tray is positioned above the storage drawer, it acts as a baffle and limits flow of cold air from the evaporator to the drawer and lower portions of the refrigerator. In this way, the temperature of the drawer is kept above freezing and the temperature of the bottom wall of the drawer is not so low as to cause undesirable condensation and dripping of water from the bottom of the drawer into the lower portion of the refrigerator.

Since the front wall of the drawer overlaps the drip tray, it will be understood that it is necessary to remove the drawer before the drip tray can be removed or inserted in the refrigerator.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the auxiliary tray 12 is positioned beneath the evaporator door 3 and any condensate forming on the evaporator door will drain to this auxiliary tray for disposition when the defrost products are dumped from the tray. With reference to this same figure, it will be noted that the auxiliary tray is sufficiently spaced from the evaporator door to prevent interference when the door is opened and closed.

The various features and advantages of the design and construction disclosed are thought to be clear from the foregoing description. Various other features and advantages not specifically enumerated will undoubtedly occur to those versed in the art, as likewise will many variations and modifications of the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated, all of which may be achieved without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described a preferred embodiment of my invention, I claim:

1. A defrost water drip tray installation for a refrigerator having an evaporator bounded laterally by cabinet side walls comprising elongated parallel supports attached at corresponding levels to the side walls adjacent and beneath the evaporator, a supporting rail molded integrally with each support, a removable drip tray having flanges resting on said supporting rails, a vertical projection at the front of each support, said flanges of said drip tray defining notches for releasable engagement with said projections, an upwardly inclined ramp formed at the rear end of each of said supports, an upwardly inclined ramp formed at each forward corner of said drip tray in position to engage the forward ends of said supports, the notches in said flanges being immediately in front of said second mentioned ramps, the front-to-rear dimension of said tray being such that the rear portions of said tray flanges rest on the upper parts of said firstmentioned ramps when the notches are engaged with said projections, said drip tray then being supported in a raised horizontal position closely adjacent the bottom of the evaporator.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 and, in addition, drawer support rails formed integrally with said supports below said first-mentioned rails, and a food storage drawer slidably supported on said drawer support rails immediately below said drip tray.

3. A defrost water drip tray installation for a refrigerator having an evaporator bounded laterally by cabinet side walls comprising supports attached at corresponding levels to the side walls adjacent and beneath the evaporator, a removable drip tray horizontally slidably resting on said supports, an upwardly inclined ramp formed at the rear end of each of said supports above the surface for slidably supporting said tray, an upwardly inclined ramp formed at each forward corner of said drip tray below the surfaces of said tray which slidably rest on said supports and in position to engage the forward ends of said supports, the front-to-rear dimension of said tray being such that the rear portion of said tray rests on the upper part of said first-mentioned ramps when the forward portions of said second mentioned ramps are in engagement with the front ends of said supports, whereby said drip tray is always maintained horizontal and is supported in a raised position closely adjacent the evaporator.

4, A drip tray for a refrigerator comprising a planar bottom wall; upright side, rear, and front walls joined integrally with said bottom wall at its edges; a plurality of upright parallel partitions extending between said side walls and also between said front and rear walls in mutually perpendicular relationship, said partitions being discontinuous at their intersections to define flow channels; flanges extending laterally from said side walls; and at least one ramp formed integrally with each flange.

5. A shallow flexible refrigerator drip tray for collecting condensate and storing it in either liquid or solid form comprising a planar bottom wall; upright side, rear, and

front walls joined integrally with said bottom wall at its edges; and a plurality of upright partitions joined to said bottom wall and extending between said side walls and also between said front and rear walls; said partitions being discontinuous at their virtual intersections to permit passage of liquid condensate and facilitate release of solid condensate upon flexure of said tray.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 551,950 Flint Dec. 24, 1895 1,915,849 Crimmel et a1. June 27, 1933 2,048,412 Sissman July 21, 1936 2,069,195 Chilton Feb. 2, 1937 2,242,903 Crimmel May 20, 1941 

